So, it was Christmas.

A few nights before Christmas, Chuck was helping Clyde say our nightly family prayer. Chuck prompted, "Please help us remember the true reason for Christmas" which Clyde repeated with his own flair: "Please help us remember the true reason for Christmas, trains."

This slightly incorrect idea may have been reinforced Christmas morning when Clyde and Will found this waiting for them:

Clyde found it a little earlier than we anticipated, as in 3 a.m. Will's crying had woken him up, and as he wandered from his room to ours, his sleepy eyes spotted the train table in the living room and immediately brightened. It was all over then; there was no convincing him to go back to bed. He seriously stayed up for TWO AND A HALF HOURS, guiding the trains around and around. Chuck and I, and eventually my mom, took shifts prying our eyelids open until Clyde finally gave up and fell asleep on the couch for a few more hours. I love this picture - smiling for the camera, all the while keeping a close eye on the train table, lest it disappear :).
About nine o'clock, Clyde woke up again, and this time another little Izatt boy joined in on the fun: Yes, Will sticks out his tongue on occasion when serious concentration is needed, and yes, he gets it from me. Oh, I love Will's face after seeing Thomas go through the little door (which activates a noise - it seriously sounds like we live in a train station now).

Clyde was SO excited to have a train whistle. We had spent a lot of time in Elko watching Pops' train go around the Christmas tree and playing with a super cool old train whistle there. Thanks Grandma Izatt for making sure we have our own to play with too!

We were eventually able to draw the boys away from the train table to check out their stockings. Chuck helped Will . . .

and Clyde helped himself. With both hands.

After a delicious brunch and the wonderful surprise arrival of my biggest brother Cody, we opened all of our presents. It was so fun to see everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity. Here are some of the highlights:

Terri's parents gave Sam a TomTom GPS unit for their car. He was really excited to test it out later in the day to find the church where my dad's side of the family was meeting for dinner. We were all impressed by how it knew right where we were and when Sam was speeding!

Cody got some delicious Nutella, and was forced to keep it on his person for the rest of the day so that Sam wouldn't steal it. As his gift to all of us, Cody shaved that afternoon :).

My mom was super excited about this board game, which she's played other places but never owned. We tested it out later that evening, and it is definitely fun, although I will defend my much-mocked depiction of "George Foreman/babysitting/on the Mayflower" to the death.

Sam and Terri were the recipients of a Jana Izatt original personalized picture frame, created with the help of my wonderful Cricut machine. I have big plans to devote an entire post to my extremely impressive craftiness this holiday season. That way, if I never channel my inner Martha Stewart again, there is at least proof that I did once!

Finally, my dear, cute husband. I kid you not, this Tupperware was one his favorite presents. He had it all opened, clicked together (that's right, the lids click onto the base of the dishes so they won't fall into disarray as I allegedly let happen before) and lovingly placed in our pantry immediately.

Oh, and there isn't a picture, but the biggest highlight of the day was getting to talk to Elder Braden! We mailed off his t-shirts a little late so he hadn't gotten them yet but he should have by now - can't wait to hear if he likes them!

I DID it!

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I am a college graduate, WOOOO!

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More details, stories, pictures to come later (much later - I'm embarking on a mostly Internet-free journey for a few days. . . wish me luck! Luckily Amanda and Steve's awesome wedding will be worth it).

Merry Christmas to Elder Braden

I recently embarked on an extremely difficult task: take a nice picture of the little boys in white shirts and ties that would look cute on a t-shirt for Quinn's Christmas present. Factors working against me included the fact that both boys needed haircuts, the fact that Chuck wasn't there to help, and the fact that MY CHILDREN REFUSE TO SMILE AND LOOK AT THE DANG CAMERA. Factors working for me included that my children are mostly cute and their clothes were cute.

Here's how it went:

1. First shot of the day. I should have realized that it wasn't going to happen right then and there. 2. Good news: Clyde agreed to wear his tie. Bad news: He is now camera-shy AND Will has progressed from sad to angry. 3. Oh, it's a full-on tantrum now, which means it's time for . . .

4. A solo shot! Shout it from the rooftops, Elder :).

5. I tried again after church - Clyde now feels like dancing, and Will refuses to sit without his bumbo . . . that he hasn't used in over a year.

6. Hey, Will looks happy in this one! Almost too happy . . . weirdly happy . . . And I have no idea what Clyde was looking at, no one else was in the room.

7. There may have been a toy-stealing incident, but the repentent thief was trying to make amends.

8. I think Clyde's giving Will kissing advice. Or Will's just real interested in the fruit snacks I'm bribing them with. One of the two.

9. Hey, the props are finally front and center! Too bad Will looks . . . altered.

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Good stuff, eh? Chuck and I had differing opinions on what picture should make the final cut and be featured on a t-shirt, so I ended up ordering two:

Not really hard to guess which one was Chuck's idea and which was mine, is it?

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November ended in a whirl of paper-writing, which left little time for blog-writing. Besides Chuck's b-day, here's what else we've been up to:

Thanksgiving: we met up with my mom at Aunt Iris and Uncle Larry's house for a delicious dinner. Also in attendance: my cousins Ryan, Justin, and Amanda and their families. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I took, but I think it's pretty representative of the holiday in general :). Here's the Izatt family Thanksgiving tree 2009. My floor in T-hall did something like this when I was at BYU, and I thought it'd be a fun decoration/project for our family. We also invited friends who came over during the month to contribute - hence the "chickens and cows" leaf! Clyde's leaves are on the far left: CLYDE, MOM, DAD, and TRAINS. Maybe next year, Will. Here's Wilbur before church one Sunday. We found this shirt at my mom's house; my dad got it in Mexico and my brothers wore it when they were little. I think Will looks so cute in it!.
I tried to get a picture of both boys and Will was (shockingly) running away, so this was Clyde's solution to get him to stay still :).

(Clyde's still working on his photography skills . . . )

My fabulous friend Megan came over for a visit one day with her cute baby boy Johnathan. Meg and I became fast friends when we worked at Rite Aid together. We used to have so much fun there, especially after I became a supervisor and they let us close the store together. Hard to believe neither of us ever got written up!

Johnathan is such a doll, and it's so fun to see Meg as a mom!

This picture makes me laugh for a couple of reasons. One, I obviously put Clyde in Will's pajamas and didn't notice it until the next morning. Two, this is how Clyde wanted to eat his pancakes, I promise. The rest of us were at the table, but I'm a big fan of choosing your battles, hence his breakfast on the floor.

Chuck and I finally made it to a Boise State game - the last one of the season! It was FREEZING, even with my layers, but definitely fun and worth it to see us officially win the WAC. Chuck and I opted not to rush the field, and instead enjoyed the view from the stands. It was kind of bittersweet to sit in the student section for the last time - love the free/cheap tickets, don't love the wack-o, inebriated fans. This guy next to Chuck stripped down during the first quarter to NOTHING but this weird lycra orange bodysuit. It was very uncomfortable for everyone involved, especially the guy who was so cold and finally put his clothes back on after halftime. Here's to hoping season tickets are in our semi-immediate future so we can enjoy next season's games on the other side of the stadium!

As I mentioned, I spent the last weekend in November feverishly finishing my big 20 page Senior Seminar paper and working on a 12 page group paper for another class. A huge THANK YOU to my mom who took the little boys Thursday overnight so Chuck and I could go to the temple early Friday morning, and then taking them again all day Saturday, overnight, and most of the day Sunday so I could finish the paper in peace since Chuck had to work. It's finally hitting me that I actually graduate in a week and a half, wahoo! Graduation is Friday, December 18th and that evening we're having an Open House so people can come celebrate with us. I'm sending out a few invitations, but if I miss you and you would like to come party it up, that would be GREAT! It will be from 6 to 8:30 that evening at our house - very casual, come and go as you want. Email me at chuck_jana@hotmail.com if you need our address or directions!

Guess who's almost thirty?

(NO, not me, thank you. I am securely in my mid-twenties.)

This sweet boy! Chuck turned 29 last Saturday, so we celebrated the night before by watching the Boise State game with friends and enjoying Macho Nachos and oh-so-festive cupcakes. See, there's two candles on the one cupcake and then nine candles on the other.

On Saturday we took a family trip to the zoo, complete with picnic lunch. We also went to the zoo a couple weeks ago, so here are some pictures of both outings:
Clyde on his adorable tiptoes checking out the giraffes.

Wilbur in a hut!

Both boys exiting the hut.

All four of us! And as we've seen over and over, my children cannot look at a camera.

It was much colder on our more recent trip, can you tell?

Clyde's gloves may have been a tad too big . . .

Chuck and Will checking out the penguins. We spent quite a while in there since it was nice and warm :).

My cute husband and me - ignore the weird shadow across our faces.

Happy birthday darlin'! You're my favorite husband ever!

The funny ones.

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Before we delve into today's batch of pictures + commentary from our family photo shoot (once again, done by the fabulous-not-just-my-friend-but-also-my-sister-in-law-Melissa) I must send a grateful shout-out to the incredibly sweet and generous Jayna and Christy for their hours of labor doing my hair and make-up. Without them, shots like this: and this: would NOT have been possible. The funny thing is that I'm not very well-acquainted with either Jayna or Christy in the 'real world' (aside from the occasional run-in at baby showers, bridal showers, and wedding receptions). They're both good, good friends of my brother Sam from high school and beyond, meaning I've admired them from afar for years. Thanks to the magical 'blogging world' I've had the chance to get to know them (and not just as Sam's little sister!) over the last year, so I summoned all of my courage and asked if they wouldn't mind spending a Saturday morning helping me get all dolled up, and they SO sweetly obliged! They are such gorgeous, hilarious, and cool girls and as the ultimate thanks I will honor their wishes by not posting the pictures from the make-over session itself :).
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Now for some more pictures - these are from the "I laugh out loud every time I see them" category:
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1. Clyde is adorably shocked at the idea of his parents kissing, but Will is apparently so disgusted/appalled that there's no choice but to run. Immediately..
. 2. I kid you not, his head was momentarily stuck. This took all of us back to a sacrament meeting a few months ago when Will got his head stuck in the back opening of a chair and it took both Chuck and I a few moments to free him - all the while he was screaming REALLY loudly. When the final tug separated Will and the chair, I carried him straight out to the foyer as I tried not to laugh/look anyone in the eyes. What a nutty kid!.
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3. I believe at this point (near the end of the photo session) Will was running away (far, far away) and Chuck was in pursuit. Clyde and I were obviously calculating how much farther we thought Will would get..
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4. Will is somewhat allergic to sitting still. Melissa has SUCH a fast trigger finger, but Will managed to beat her left and right :). (This allergy also explains our ridiculous antics at church as we try to keep the wee one entertained and quiet for an hour). I love love love Clyde in this one, though, from his cute smile to his little crossed legs.

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5. At one point, Chuck began to toss the boys around to loosen them up a bit and get them smiling again. Aside from the white sock peeking out (Murphy's Law that brown socks are impossible to find before church and/or family pictures) I love this one.

6. Coming back down for the landing..

7. Will's turn! Despite his penchant for running away, he is actually less of an adrenaline junkie than Clyde. He still loves being tossed up, just not quite as high as Clyde goes.

8. BIG smile when he knows he's safely back in Daddy's hands :).